Newbie needs help picking the best battery for Lance TC.

[pirlbeck]

My new to me 2009 Lance 845 is going to need a new battery or batteries before we can use it. Here is what I can tell you about the camper and how we plan to use it.

It presently only has room for 1 battery. The battery box measures 14-1/4" wide inside the trim bezel and 16" wide in the box itself. It is 8" deep and 11" high. From what I can figure, the largest single battery I can fit in there would be a group 31 size, unless someone knows of a way to get creative with a pair of smaller sealed batteries, set on the their sides or something like that. If it is necessary, I may be able to add another battery and store it between the camper side and the box, either in front of or to the rear of the fender wheel. This would most likely involve connecting it with some Andersen or similar style connectors.

We mostly plan on using this camper for long distance vacation trips. For the most part, we will not be doing any extended stays in any one spot, so most days the truck will be running for at least 3-4 hours per day and will just be parked in the late afternoons and through the night. There may also be days where we push harder and drive 10-12 hours. The camper has a 2500W LP generator on it and I may end up with a 2000 Honda if noise and fuel consumption becomes a problem. Camper does not have an inverter in it and I do not have any plans to add one at this time. It does have the Lance installed battery isolator that works by sensing voltage.

Most of our trips will be in the summer and in the northern parts of the country. As of now, we are planning on a trip out to Oregon next June and then hitting Banff and Glacier on the way home. We are thinking that the evenings may be cool enough that we don't need a lot of A/C. In the summer of 2018 we are thinking Alaska.

According to the literature that came with the camper it has a Progressive dynamics 9200 series converter. The specs listed are 13.6V normal charge mode, 14.4 boost mode, activated when voltage goes below a preset level, storage mode 13.2V after 30 hours and equalization mode 14.4V for 15 minutes every 21 hours.,

I am probably going to add a TM-2030 battery monitor before I use it next spring and then I will have a better idea if I need to add a second battery. Camper has no solar on it now and with our camping style I don't know if it would be of much benefit. I would consider adding solar, but only if I can use the existing Lance installed wiring, at least from the roof to the controller. I could probably route heavier wiring from the controller to the battery.

My main concern is selecting the largest capacity battery that will fit the box and that will work best with the camper converter and the truck charging system. Is a FLA battery my best choice or AGM, Gel or ????? I am not opposed to spending a little more for a better option, but I don't want to ruin an expensive battery by improper charging.

Sorry about the length of this.

Thanks!

[cewillis]

Buzzcut1 wrote:
I have a 2008 Lance. I have run the same two AGMs since 2010 on the factory charger with no Ill effects so I will politely disagree with above poster.

I too disagree, I have 4 135AH AGMs that are now 10 years old, and still working great. Charged while driving by a heavy duty charge circuit, when parking in the sun by 120w solar, and when stored in my workshop by the onboard PD charge wizard.

[pirlbeck]

Thanks for all the help.

I have decided on an Interstate 31TMXU which is made by Crown. I am an Interstate dealer and I sell a lot of their batteries for farm tractors and have very good luck with them. This battery has a RC of 200 minutes@25. This battery is suppose to be the same as the Crown 31DC130 and is a true deep cycle.

After I get it installed I will monitor the vehicle charge rate with the Trimetric and then decide if any upgrades are needed to the truck wiring.

I plan on trying it out and if one battery does not give us enough battery capacity I will add a second battery.

I ordered a Trimetric 2030RV yesterday along with the PD remote pendant for my converter.

Thanks again!

[LanceDuyen]

Make sure the charger is compatible with your AGM's in your climate. The older Progressive Dynamic's chargers were notorious for over charging AGM's. Personally I'd rather buy 2 FLA's than 1 AGM.

[Hemi_Joel]

My traveling is very similar to yours. Lots of driving time to charge the battery. The important thing is to make sure you have a dedicated circuit from the alternator to the camper battery, with a minimum 10 gauge, preferably 4 gauge power and ground wire. The factory plug will not do a good job keeping the house battery charged, because the alternator will sense the truck battery state of charge, not the camper battery. A big fat wire with solid connections cures that.


I decided not to splurge on the big dollar batteries, because I don't want to spend my vacation time trying to preserve it's life. I just go with a cheap $90 battery and replace it when I need to. Only your usage can tell you if 1 battery is enuff. Just try it. If you get a $90 battery, you have little risk. If it runs too low, you can start the truck and/or the generator to get you back up, then add another battery. Perhaps there is room under the hood of the truck?

[JohnAM]

I have two Group 27 Lifeline AGMs in my Lance for 200AH capacity. These have been running strong since fall of 2010. I think you will be fine with a single group 31 for summer use. Furnace fan is the big power hog in winter. Upgrading to LED lighting will also be a help as lights are a significant consumer of power. Also have the trimetric battery monitor which I would recommend.

[jmckelvy]

Buzzcut1 wrote:
I have a 2008 Lance. I have run the same two AGMs since 2010 on the factory charger with no Ill effects so I will politely disagree with above poster......

I agree with this comment. I have two Grp 27 Lifelines originally installed in Oct 2007. They had 6 1/2 years on the WFCO charger in my previous Northstar camper and currently have coming up on 3 years on the PD in my current AF 990. All factory settings on the chargers. I do have a Xantrex XBM battery monitor system and keep close tabs on the batteries. Batteries still going strong.

[2oldnslow]

I was able to shoe-horn 2 6V AGM golf cart sizes batteries into the cabinet under the front dinette seat. That gives me 220Ah of capacity. In that space they have to be AGM since there is little ventilation. I use my former battery box to store the power cord and related accessories.

Do NOT use a true Gel battery, your converter will boil it. They require much lower charge voltages. They are also not easy to find anymore, I think. Most power devices like wheelchairs now use AGM batteries.

[NRALIFR]

Sounds like we have the same size battery box. I'm getting good service from a group 31 VMAXTanks AGM battery. An MR137 or a SLR125 would be a good choice and will fit your box just fine, and if you have a smart charger like the Progressive Dynamics with Charge Wizard, it will not be overcharged. They are about $260-270 on Amazon.

:):)

[CAJW]

I agree with Buzz. Go with the largest deep cycle you can fit in your battery compartment and if more capacity is needed, look into the under bed mount option from Torklift. As far as the PD 9200, you should be good to go for charging AGM, mine is. Good call on the TM-2030 monitor, best option I've added to our camper yet.

[dave17352]

When I get a chance to start using my truck camper more here is what I plan to do. I am going to put agm batteries in my duramax and and TC. Then I am going to get Priority starts on my Duramax batteries and use all three together. I know some will say this is not a good idea but I am going to try it out. I think it might just work fine.

Tried to make a clicky but didn't work. Check out "Priority Start" on
Amazon. Apparently lots of law enforcement and emergency vehicles use them.

Still curious if 11.7 volts will start a Chevy Duramax. Probably should as it will generally be warm weather.

JMHO

[Buzzcut1]

I have a 2008 Lance. I have run the same two AGMs since 2010 on the factory charger with no Ill effects so I will politely disagree with above poster.

Torklift makes a product called hidden power which lets you mount another battery in a protected box on the truck frame under the bed. Also with AGM batteries you can mount them at any orientation needed to cram them into a space.

[LanceDuyen]

A group 31 will give you a bit more capacity than a 29 at the expense of added weight either will do fine. I would not go the AGM route as most factory converter chargers will over charge them and they will be ruined. The FLA batteries can be topped off if over charged.